Devanagari
चातुर्होत्रं कर्म शुद्धं प्रजानां वीक्ष्य वैदिकम् ।
व्यदधाद्यज्ञसन्तत्यै वेदमेकं चतुर्विधम् ॥ १९ ॥
Verse text
cātur-hotraṁ karma śuddhaṁ
prajānāṁ vīkṣya vaidikam
vyadadhād yajṣa-santatyai
vedam ekaṁ catur-vidham
Synonyms
cātuḥ
—
four
;
hotram
—
sacrificial fires
;
karma śuddham
—
purification of work
;
prajānām
—
of the people in general
;
vīkṣya
—
after seeing
;
vaidikam
—
according to Vedic rites
;
vyadadhāt
—
made into
;
yajṣa
—
sacrifice
;
santatyai
—
to expand
;
vedam ekam
—
only one Veda
;
catuḥ
—
vidham — in four divisions .
Translation
He saw that the sacrifices mentioned in the Vedas were means by which the people’s occupations could be purified. And to simplify the process he divided the one Veda into four, in order to expand them among men.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Seeing the purifying power of Vedic rites performed by the four priests for the people at large who were not inclined for jṣāna, yoga or bhakti, he divided the one Veda into four for continuation of sacrifice.
Purport
Formerly there was only the
Veda
of the name
Yajur,
and the four divisions of sacrifices were there specifically mentioned. But to make them more easily performable, the
Veda
was divided into four divisions of sacrifice, just to purify the occupational service of the four orders. Above the four
Vedas,
namely
Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma,
and
Atharva,
there are the
Purāṇas,
the
Mahābhārata, Saṁhitās,
etc., which are known as the fifth
Veda.
Śrī Vyāsadeva and his many disciples were all historical personalities, and they were very kind and sympathetic toward the fallen souls of this Age of Kali. As such, the
Purāṇas
and
Mahābhārata
were made from related historical facts which explained the teaching of the four
Vedas.
There is no point in doubting the authority of the
Purāṇas
and
Mahābhārata
as parts and parcels of the
Vedas.
In the
Chāndogya Upaniṣad
(7.1.4), the
Purāṇas
and
Mahābhārata,
generally known as histories, are mentioned as the fifth
Veda.
According to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, that is the way of ascertaining the respective values of the revealed scriptures.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Vyāsa considered that Vedic rites were purifying (śuddham) for all people who were not qualified for jṣāna, yoga or bhakti. These sacrifices were accomplished by four priests, the hotā (reciter of Ṛg-veda, offerer of oblations), udgātā (reciter of Sāma-veda, corrector of irregularity), adhvaryu (reciter of Yajur-veda, preparer of items for sacrifice), and the brahmā (reciter of Atharva-Veda, knower of all Vedas, supervisor). Santatyai means “for continuation.”